NATO Approves Plans to Bolster Defense in Eastern Europe

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has announced a plan stepping up defense of the alliance's eastern flank has now been successfully adopted.

A rapid-response force is to be created for that purpose "to be able to be deployed in short time," Al Jazeera English quotes him as telling reporters at a news conference.

In his words, the new structure "will include land troops read to deploy in a few days supported by air and sea".

Rasmussen has called the security environment NATO is currently facing "more unpredictable than ever", with Russia "attacking Ukraine", extremists advancing in the Middle East and rising instability in North Africa.

The move, aimed at enabling NATO to "swiftly and firmly" deal with threats, comes against the backdrop of a ceasefire signed between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels acting in its south.

NATO approved the decision, one dating back to the first months of the Donbass crises this spring, during the second day of its summit in Wales.